![]() ![]() ![]() If Head Start program nationwide raise their wages, their jobs could become coveted in communities where daycare workers and early childhood educators are meagerly paid, said Markowitz, the UCLA researcher. “This proposal would codify what we were anticipating we were going to have to do.” “We have to get there next year,” he said. Olenick anticipates he’ll raise teacher, assistant and aide salaries soon to be more competitive with public school district and fast food restaurants, that are now required to pay a $20 minimum hourly wage in California. The program should be able to put 3,000 kids in classrooms, but because of staffing shortages is only serving 2,500. Plans to sharply increase teacher pay are already in the works for Head Start teachers in Los Angeles, said Michael Olenick, the president and CEO of Child Care Resource Center. “The proposed changes are necessary to stabilize the Head Start program, which is facing a severe workforce shortage because staff can earn higher wages from other employers,” Hamm said. The administration also believes the program can “maintain its current capacity” with the wage increases, Katie Hamm, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Early Childhood Development, said in an email. Health and Human Services is counting on Congress to provide additional money to Head Start, which is why it’s giving programs until 2031 to fully up their salaries to match local teacher pay. Daniel said she plans to weigh in on the proposed rule, with the federal government accepting comments on the plan until Jan. “How am I going to create parity with that, if I don’t get any new money?” she asked. The rule also suggests adding retirement benefits to teacher compensation, a new perk she’d have to offer. But to match local public school teacher salaries, pay will need to be about $33 per hour. Daniel recently raised teacher salaries to start at $21 an hour. “Right now we’re suffering, and we’re not serving the children anyway, because we don’t have the staff,” Daniel said.ĭaniel said in recent years, teachers have left to work in the health care sector or at Amazon. But without additional federal money, she would have to permanently cut as many as 800 seats to pay for those increases. "If we were to see a long term government shutdown and a lack of funding for Head Start you end of hurting the families most vulnerable across the commonwealth, these are the folks these programs were developed for, and if their not getting those services from Head Start, then their just not getting them," he said.Daniel was “jumping up and down” when she read the administration’s proposal to raise wages and add heartier benefits for Head Start staff. Head Start benefits more than 15,000 students in Kentucky, helping to make sure they don't fall behind at an early age, along with providing some wraparound services.Īlong with services in the classroom, they also provide certain Healthcare services. "These children are going to fall remarkably behind," he said. ![]() If that does happen, potentially classrooms would close, staff would be laid off, and kids wouldn't get the services they need. "Kentucky's Head Start programs are not going to be impacted necessarily on that day, but what we are going to see if that shutdown were to last days or weeks or even until December, you'll begin to see programs not getting their funding, programs not getting the federal funding they need," Mountjoy said. ![]() Impacts won't be immediate, said John Mountjoy, the executive director of Kentucky Head Start Association, which represents the independent programs across the commonwealth. (LEX 18) - The potential government shutdown could force Head Start classrooms in Kentucky to close down, depending on how long the shutdown lasts. ![]()
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